BURLINGTON — The Dartmouth College men’s basketball team found itself in a familiar spot just three minutes into Wednesday night’s game at Vermont — staring a 10-point deficit in the face.
Just three days earlier, the Big Green fell into a 10-0 hole at Bryant before digging out of it, ultimately winning its third straight in an overtime thriller. But this time, there would be no comeback in store.
The Catamounts took all the drama out of it with their early run — aided by a pair of Dartmouth turnovers — and the Big Green never had an answer, falling 83-65, at Patrick Gymnasium.
“We had some loud defensive mistakes,” Dartmouth coach David McLaughlin said. “I don’t think we came out with enough presence defensively. UVM is an experienced, terrific team that took advantage of that and jumped on us.”
McLaughlin called a quick timeout after Vermont’s 10-0 start, and Dartmouth (3-2) scored the next five points to halve the deficit. But the Big Green would get no closer as the Catamounts had their best offensive performance of the season.
The biggest bright spot for Dartmouth was senior forward Garrison Wade, who provided a spark off the bench with a career-high tying 13 points. Wade came in averaging 6.3 points per game through the first four contests, but he surpassed that amount by halftime Wednesday, making three of his six 3-point attempts.
“My teammates found me, and I was in a good spot today,” Wade said. “Basketball is about what have you done lately, so I’d just like to build on this.”
Fifth-year forward Aaryn Rai, who made the game-winning layup against Bryant on Sunday, led Dartmouth with 20 points, making all seven of his free-throw attempts, to go along with nine rebounds. All but two of his points came in the second half.
McLaughlin said he challenged Rai at halftime, and his veteran took that challenge to heart.
“As a senior, I just have to be a little more aggressive,” Rai said. “I have to get some shots up and put some pressure on the defense. Unfortunately, I didn’t do that early enough, and we were too far down.”
Vermont, though, started hot and stayed hot throughout the night. The Catamounts (6-3) entered the game having made just over a quarter of their 3-point attempts and 41.5% of their total shots, but they shattered those averages against Dartmouth, finishing 30-for-53 from the floor and 8-for-20 from behind the arc. Vermont had a balanced offensive attack, with six players scoring in double figures. Ryan Davis led the way with 16 points and eight boards.
Senior guard Taurus Samuels, who led the charge with 23 points in the Big Green’s upset win over Georgetown on Nov. 13, had a particularly rough night, with just two points in 23 minutes while dealing with foul trouble. Graduate guard Brendan Barry, who entered leading the nation with 4.5 made threes per game, also struggled, hitting just two of seven attempts from distance.
“(Samuels) and Barry were both defended very well,” McLaughlin said. “This is an extremely good defensive team that we played tonight. They had plans to take away shots, and we have to do a better job finding those guys. They’re too talented not to get better looks.”
The Catamounts have won at least a share of the America East title in each of the past five seasons, and they regularly draw large, enthusiastic crowds, with Wednesday being no exception. Vermont has now won 21 of its last 22 meetings against the Big Green.
McLaughlin said Vermont’s program culture can serve as a standard for his team to aspire to.
“(Their culture) is a true sign of history and tradition,” McLaughlin said. “That’s something we’re continuing to build. We have the right guys here, we have a great staff and we just have to continue to work. When you win games deep into the season, that’s when the fans will show up consistently.”
Dartmouth has a quick turnaround, heading to Fort Myers, Fla., to take on Florida Gulf Coast on Saturday.
Benjamin Rosenberg can be reached at brosenberg@vnews.com or 603-727-3302.